Maiasaura
|-|Adult= Information Maiasaura is a medium sized hadrosaur on Era of Terror. Maiasaura was found by a nest of eggs, getting the scientists to name it meaning "good-mother lizard". Maiasaura is an efficient runner, only surpassed by Gallimimus and Parasaurolophus. Appearance The Maiasaura is a medium-sized hadrosaur in the game. it is mainly a brownish orange, with black stripes on its tail and a white lower body. In Real Life The Maiasaura was first discovered in 1978 by Laurie Trexler, since then hundreds of specimens have been uncovered. It was later described by Jack Horner, known for his work as the paleontologic advisor for the Jurassic Park movies, and Robert Makela. It was named Maiasaura because of the nests found in the Two Medicine Formation of western Montana, which has become known as the Egg Mountain. These nests contained several Maiasaura young that had already hatched. The Maiasaura was identified as a dinosaur that cared well for its young, thus its name the "caring mother lizard. The Maiasaura was very similar to others of its kind. It had a broad, duck-like beak with strong muscular jaws like other duck-billed dinosaurs. One unique feature was its crest located in front of its eyes. Also like others of its kind it could walk on four legs, but lift itself on two legs for sudden bursts of speed. This would have been useful as the Maiasaura would have had little way of defending itself, except perhaps by using its strong heavy tail or by traveling in herd. There is overwhelming evidence that the Maiasaura traveled in large herds in North America. Some of these herds would have been ten-thousand strong. It is believed that these herds traveled from the north to the south and back with the seasons. These numbers and size would have served as a protection from Tyrannosaurids and other predators. The crest on Maiasaura may have been used for headbutting contests with others of its own kind. Maiasaura females were good nurturers. They would travel to a nesting site and lay 20 or so sausage shaped eggs close together. They would cover these eggs and stay close by until they hatched. Evidence shows that the teeth of some of the newborns would be worn, which means that the mothers probably brought them food before they were strong enough to leave the nest and eat on their own. In Game The Maiasaura is a medium sized herbivore, it's quite strong being able to fend off Majungasaurus if needed. In edition, they are very fast runners, being able to outrun a Tyrannosaurus and almost every other dinosaur in the game apart from Gallimimus. However, due to their speed, they do have a lot of predators, this being almost all predatory dinosaurs, Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Ceratosaurus can kill a Maiasaura with ease. Although, of course, it can outrun all of these. A lot of people tend to nest as Maiasaura as well, so it's not unusual to see them in herds. (They will often group up with larger herbivores, too). All in all, it's a well-balanced dinosaur and a lot of herbivore players tend to play it because of that. Trivia * In the old version, the Maiasaura could not attack. So if another predator came at them, they’d have no way to retaliate except run away from them. * This may seem unrealistic, but the Maiasaura in the new version can play the song "Mary had a Little Lamb" by pressing 3,2,1,2,3,3,3,2,2,2,3,3,3,3,2,1,2,3,3,3,1,2,2,3,2,1. |-|Adolescent= The Adolescent Maiasaura is a younger version of Maiasaura. It has a very similar model to the adult Maiasaura, but is a lot weaker and smaller. It is a perfect snack for predators like Utahraptor and Ceratosaurus. |-|Juvenile= The Juvenile Maiasaura, also called Baby Maiasaura, is the youngest version of the Maiasaura and the weakest growth stage of it. It is a small snack for Oviraptors and small carnivores. Being weak and slow, it is a easy target for any creature. Category:Hadrosaurs Category:Herbivores Category:Dinosaurs Category:Creatures Category:Article Stub